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Homeopathy (also homœopathy or homoeopathy; from the Greek , ''ὅμοιος, hómoios'', "similar" + ''πάθος, páthos'', "suffering" or "disease") is a controversial form of Alternative Medicine that aims to treat "like with like". Substances that cause symptoms similar to the disease in large quantities are heavily diluted, with shaking at each stage of the dilution. Homeopaths contend that the shaking causes some imprint (or Memory ) of the diluted substance, despite the fact that at many common homeopathic dilutions, no molecules of the original substance are likely to remain.1 Homeopathy is based on a Vitalist world view, which sees the underlying causes of sickness as imbalances in a hypothetical Vital Force , and claims that homeopathic treatment can harmonize and re-balance the vital force in the body, so restoring health — a spiritual doctrine not found in modern Biology or Conventional Medicine . Homeopathy traces its origins to the late 18th century when it was founded by German Physician Samuel Hahnemann , who noted some similarity of the symptoms of undiluted cinchona bark in healthy individuals with those of Malaria , which it is used to treat. Hahnemann decided that an effective drug must produce the symptoms in healthy individuals that are similar to the symptoms of the sick patient which they are supposed to be treating. Based on later experiments, Hahnemann reasoned that using natural doses of substances would generally not help patients because, if they produced effects similar to those of the disease, they would only make symptoms worse, and thus proposed the Dilution of substances in Water or Alcohol , with shaking (known as "succussion") after each dilution, in order to try and imprint the liquid with the memory of the original substance. To account for homeopathic remedies sometimes failing to produce lasting cures of long-standing chronic diseases, Hahnemann proposed that the vital force in the body has the ability to react or adapt to disturbances, referred to as the "law of susceptibility", and that various causes can attract hypothetical disease-causing entities called "miasms", which he claimed could produce symptoms of disease within the body, and formed a deeper, harder to treat cause of illness. The medical efficacy of homeopathic treatments is disputed both by experimental studies, and on scientific and medical grounds, and it is considered by most scientists to be ineffective. The hypothesis that extreme dilution makes any Pharmaceutical more powerful is antithetical to the principles of Chemistry and Physics as well as the observed Dose-response Relationship s of conventional medicines. The scientific community asserts there is no scientific evidence supporting the contention that water or alcohol retain any memory of a substance. Researchers conclude that any positive effects of homeopathic treatment are simply a Placebo Effect . Homeopaths are also often accused of giving 'false hope' to patients who might be better advised to seek effective conventional treatments. Studies have shown homeopaths frequently advise patients to avoid standard medical procedures including drugs which can prevent diseases such as malaria. The meta-analyses that have been done on homeopathy have confirmed that its effects are unlikely to be beyond that of placebo, and those studies that have shown positive results for homeopathic treatments were flawed in design. These findings, along with the proscription by homeopaths against conventional medicine and their encouragement of a "holistic" approach to health, are in keeping with the conclusion of many scientists that homeopathy is a sort of quackery. HISTORY Modern homeopathy was created by and Scottish Physician John Brown also held similar medical beliefs to Samuel Hahnemann prior to the conception of homeopathy 18th century medicine .]] |
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